Welcome to the ANA Podcast - Episode 1: Living with Crohn’s Disease with Shalvi Arunprakash.

Summary

In this episode, Shalvi Arunprakash joins us as an ANA Member and Student of Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at King's College London. She shares her journey living with Crohn's disease and how it has shaped her understanding of mental health, pain, resilience, and the importance of lived experience in healthcare. She emphasises the need for a systems-level approach to mental health, advocating for nervous system regulation as a set of skills that can be learned. Shalvi discusses the role of applied neuroscience and AI in enhancing our understanding of how we might develop these skills, while preserving human agency and compassion.

Takeaways

- Living with Crohn's disease has shaped my research focus.

- Lived experience is often overlooked in clinical protocols.

- Pain is influenced by emotional and cognitive factors.

- Self-regulation is a critical skill for managing health.

- Mental health should be treated as infrastructure.

- We need to integrate nervous system literacy into education.

- Applied neuroscience can empower individuals without pathologising them, in a role as translator.

- Understanding our brain and body can shift our relationship with illness.

- Agency in health is crucial for resilience.

- Neuroscience serves as a bridge between patients and clinicians.

Chapters

00:00

Introduction to Lived Experience and Mental Health

01:17

The Impact of Crohn's Disease on Research and Inquiry

06:07

Understanding Pain Beyond the Biomedical Frame

09:59

Applied Self-Regulation and Nervous System Attunement

14:46

Mental Health as Infrastructure

16:56

Designing Brain Healthcare with Lived Experience in Mind

22:23

The Role of Applied Neuroscience and AI in Mental Health

ANA Disclaimer

https://www.theappliedneuroscienceassociation.com/ana-neuro-events

Episode ID: 1000747603207

GUID: 09c95624-c1ab-4c8a-b226-e30f4bd46cfa

Release Date: 02/02/2026, 02:23:09